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Any idea about migration agent charges?


amsandun

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Hi guys,

This is not about cars and stuff. Since there is a large community from around the world here in AL, I thought of putting it here.

Has anyone got experience with Migration Agents for PR or Migration Visa? (Let's say for Australia) How do they work?

And how they charge and what amounts to get the work done?

Your knowledge and experience would be of great help. Thanks.

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Taking Australia as an example:

First of all, the company or individual needs to be a "Registered Migration Agent" in order to be able to legally qualified to act on behalf of an applicant. The Australian government has a web page with all registered migration agents, so before you consult one, make sure they are a legit company. Most popular companies in Sri Lanka are registered.

How they work:
You make an appointment and go there with your spouse or family (with whom you plan on migrating) for a preliminary interview, after which they will assess your situation and let you know what your options are. This step is usually free.


If you decide to go ahead with it, they will provide you with a quote of their charges and let you know when payments are to be made. It's not a once-off payment usually. You pay an upfront amount and then pay in different stages, based on what the agent does on behalf of you. It's all highly subjective and so is the cost. 
Then you work together with the agent and get the paperwork done. For Australia, everything happens online through their visa application Portal (immi account). The agent is registered there and lodges an application on behalf of you. If you are migrating on skilled migration, you need the agent will lodge the skills assessment on behalf of you and all you really need to do is sit for IELTS. Each of these steps the agent does for you comes with a fee.


After the application is lodged, you wait until the visa is granted. The agent sometimes charges you a final payment if the application is successful and you've been granted visa. 

How much they charge:
About 5 years ago, a reputed migration agent wanted to charge me 700,000 (for my wife and I) for Skilled Migration to Australia. I ran away and did it on my own. My cousin works for a migration consultant in Melbourne and I just enquired and she confirmed that for a couple it would cost 1,000,000 for the entire thing, assuming it's Skilled Migration. 

My opinion:
Do it on your own. Don't waste one million (that's nearly twice as much as what you would spend as opposed top applying on your own) on a migration agent. The application process (at least for Australia), although comprehensive, is very well explained on their Immigration website. All you need to do is make sure you are eligible (the website has an eligibility calculator). If you are, you can lodge an EOI (expression of interest) and that does not require you to make a payment. Before the EOI, you need to have done IELTS and met other criteria for which you might have to pay for (for Skilled migration, you need to have been assessed by the relevant assessing authority and given an "Eligible" status).

Edited by Davy
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36 minutes ago, Davy said:

Taking Australia as an example:

First of all, the company or individual needs to be a "Registered Migration Agent" in order to be able to legally qualified to act on behalf of an applicant. The Australian government has a web page with all registered migration agents, so before you consult one, make sure they are a legit company. Most popular companies in Sri Lanka are registered.

How they work:
You make an appointment and go there with your spouse or family (with whom you plan on migrating) for a preliminary interview, after which they will assess your situation and let you know what your options are. This step is usually free.


If you decide to go ahead with it, they will provide you with a quote of their charges and let you know when payments are to be made. It's not a once-off payment usually. You pay an upfront amount and then pay in different stages, based on what the agent does on behalf of you. It's all highly subjective and so is the cost. 
Then you work together with the agent and get the paperwork done. For Australia, everything happens online through their visa application Portal (immi account). The agent is registered there and lodges an application on behalf of you. If you are migrating on skilled migration, you need the agent will lodge the skills assessment on behalf of you and all you really need to do is sit for IELTS. Each of these steps the agent does for you comes with a fee.


After the application is lodged, you wait until the visa is granted. The agent sometimes charges you a final payment if the application is successful and you've been granted visa. 

How much they charge:
About 5 years ago, a reputed migration agent wanted to charge me 700,000 (for my wife and I) for Skilled Migration to Australia. I ran away and did it on my own. My cousin works for a migration consultant in Melbourne and I just enquired and she confirmed that for a couple it would cost 1,000,000 for the entire thing, assuming it's Skilled Migration. 

My opinion:
Do it on your own. Don't waste one million (that's nearly twice as much as what you would spend as opposed top applying on your own) on a migration agent. The application process (at least for Australia), although comprehensive, is very well explained on their Immigration website. All you need to do is make sure you are eligible (the website has an eligibility calculator). If you are, you can lodge an EOI (expression of interest) and that does not require you to make a payment. Before the EOI, you need to have done IELTS and met other criteria for which you might have to pay for (for Skilled migration, you need to have been assessed by the relevant assessing authority and given an "Eligible" status).

I think that site only includes the agents who are based in Australia itself. I was told we need we need to get the agents verified from the Australian high commission in Sri Lanka. 

There are loads of bogus migration agents who rip off people's money.

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52 minutes ago, Magnum said:

I think that site only includes the agents who are based in Australia itself. I was told we need we need to get the agents verified from the Australian high commission in Sri Lanka. 

There are loads of bogus migration agents who rip off people's money.

https://www.mara.gov.au/search-the-register-of-migration-agents/

You can type "Sri Lanka" into the "Business Location" and do a search.

Edited by Davy
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11 hours ago, amsandun said:

Hi guys,

This is not about cars and stuff. Since there is a large community from around the world here in AL, I thought of putting it here.

Has anyone got experience with Migration Agents for PR or Migration Visa? (Let's say for Australia) How do they work?

And how they charge and what amounts to get the work done?

Your knowledge and experience would be of great help. Thanks.

You can try the free one also.. :) 

https://dvlottery.state.gov/

 

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7 hours ago, Davy said:

https://www.mara.gov.au/search-the-register-of-migration-agents/

You can type "Sri Lanka" into the "Business Location" and do a search.

I assume this doesn't include agents who deal with student visas

3 hours ago, kmeeg said:

You can try the free one also.. :) 

https://dvlottery.state.gov/

 

I know atleast 3 people who got into US through this.

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14 hours ago, Davy said:

Taking Australia as an example:

First of all, the company or individual needs to be a "Registered Migration Agent" in order to be able to legally qualified to act on behalf of an applicant. The Australian government has a web page with all registered migration agents, so before you consult one, make sure they are a legit company. Most popular companies in Sri Lanka are registered.

How they work:
You make an appointment and go there with your spouse or family (with whom you plan on migrating) for a preliminary interview, after which they will assess your situation and let you know what your options are. This step is usually free.


If you decide to go ahead with it, they will provide you with a quote of their charges and let you know when payments are to be made. It's not a once-off payment usually. You pay an upfront amount and then pay in different stages, based on what the agent does on behalf of you. It's all highly subjective and so is the cost. 
Then you work together with the agent and get the paperwork done. For Australia, everything happens online through their visa application Portal (immi account). The agent is registered there and lodges an application on behalf of you. If you are migrating on skilled migration, you need the agent will lodge the skills assessment on behalf of you and all you really need to do is sit for IELTS. Each of these steps the agent does for you comes with a fee.


After the application is lodged, you wait until the visa is granted. The agent sometimes charges you a final payment if the application is successful and you've been granted visa. 

How much they charge:
About 5 years ago, a reputed migration agent wanted to charge me 700,000 (for my wife and I) for Skilled Migration to Australia. I ran away and did it on my own. My cousin works for a migration consultant in Melbourne and I just enquired and she confirmed that for a couple it would cost 1,000,000 for the entire thing, assuming it's Skilled Migration. 

My opinion:
Do it on your own. Don't waste one million (that's nearly twice as much as what you would spend as opposed top applying on your own) on a migration agent. The application process (at least for Australia), although comprehensive, is very well explained on their Immigration website. All you need to do is make sure you are eligible (the website has an eligibility calculator). If you are, you can lodge an EOI (expression of interest) and that does not require you to make a payment. Before the EOI, you need to have done IELTS and met other criteria for which you might have to pay for (for Skilled migration, you need to have been assessed by the relevant assessing authority and given an "Eligible" status).

thank you so much @Davyfor the detailed explanation. I am going through their website for more info. There are so many types of visa available. I will have to go through Skilled Migration as I am not eligible for others as I understand. Just to know, it is the Skilled Independent Visa (Point-tested stream) which applies for general skilled migration, am I right?

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8 hours ago, amsandun said:

thank you so much @Davyfor the detailed explanation. I am going through their website for more info. There are so many types of visa available. I will have to go through Skilled Migration as I am not eligible for others as I understand. Just to know, it is the Skilled Independent Visa (Point-tested stream) which applies for general skilled migration, am I right?

That's right. Visa 189 (Points-tested stream).

They've improved the website significantly and it's very easy to find what you want. Spend some time familiarising yourself with the process. 

Good luck! 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Davy said:

That's right. Visa 189 (Points-tested stream).

They've improved the website significantly and it's very easy to find what you want. Spend some time familiarising yourself with the process. 

Good luck! 

 

 

Thanks so much Davy. Yeah the website is well structured now.

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  • 3 months later...
On 2/1/2019 at 2:19 AM, Davy said:

That's right. Visa 189 (Points-tested stream).

They've improved the website significantly and it's very easy to find what you want. Spend some time familiarising yourself with the process. 

Good luck! 

 

 

Hi @Davy, Assuming that you've been through this whole process, may I ask something? 

When we lodge an application for skill assessment through the relevant authority, how are they gonna verify our claims (education, work experience etc)? I mean do they rely on what we certify and submit or do they perform any checks with relevant sri lankan authorities regarding them? 

On 1/31/2019 at 5:49 PM, amsandun said:

all you really need to do is sit for IELTS

Since they now accept both IELTS and TOEFL I though of doing the latter as I have been through it once.

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On 5/5/2019 at 12:58 AM, amsandun said:

Hi @Davy, Assuming that you've been through this whole process, may I ask something? 

When we lodge an application for skill assessment through the relevant authority, how are they gonna verify our claims (education, work experience etc)? I mean do they rely on what we certify and submit or do they perform any checks with relevant sri lankan authorities regarding them? 

Since they now accept both IELTS and TOEFL I though of doing the latter as I have been through it once.

Sorry for the delay in responding. The past couple of weeks have been a bit hectic. 

The relevant assessing authority checks your certificates and stuff with the relevant institutions from which you obtained them. As for work experience, you will be required to talk to your employer and get a letter (letter of experience) from them (you'll have to do this for all your previous employers for up to 5 years I think). The assessing authority usually call up HR or the manager who issued the letter. So yes, there are checks being done.

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